Sin City Homicide Read Online Free PDF

number?”
    “No.”
    “I’ll text it to you. And Jon, I ain’t kiddin’. You call me if you need anything at all.”
    “I will .” Stanton rose. “Hopefully, I won’t be a total waste of your money.”
    “Well, probably, but if you ain’t a gambler , you got no business being in this town.”
    Stanton turned to walk out of the office and realized he’d left the pizzas on the chair next to him. He grabbed them , and Orson stared but didn’t say anything.
    “Do you want some?”
    “If you don’t mind. I had a small lunch.”
    “Not at all .” Stanton gave him a box. “Enjoy.”
    Marty was waiting down the hall , his arms crossed, staring blankly at the floor. When he saw Stanton, he straightened up. “How’d it go?”
    “Fine,” Stanton said . “I need to see Jay and Javier.”
    “They’re downstairs. Come on . I’ll take you to ’em.”
    Walking side by side, they were quiet for a long time.
    Then Marty asked, “Did Sheriff Hall say anything about me?”
    “He said you’re a good cop and that you’re going to be showing me around while I’m here.”
    “Yeah, it should be fun. I’ve lived here since I was born, and I know all the fun places. I thought tonight, you’d want to go to a club. It’s a good place to meet people when you don’t know anybody.”
    “I appreciate that, but I’ll probably just head back to the hotel after I’m done here.”
    “Oh, okay.”
    On the walk back to the elevator, Stanton watched Marty’s footsteps. He hadn’t noticed it before because he wasn’t looking for it, but Marty had a spastic gait: a stiff walk dragging a foot, caused by contractions of the muscles on one side of the leg. It was typically attributed to a conversion disorder, which was a quasi-scientific way of saying that science couldn’t explain the cause. Typically, symptoms appeared after stressful events and could be as severe as blindness or complete paralysis. Psychotherapy was the only known cure.
    They got down to the first floor and hurried through the maze of corridors before reaching a large door marked ROBBERY-HOMICIDE. Stanton opened the door, but Marty grabbed his arm.
    “Did Sheriff Hall tell you about Captain Parr?”
    “No, what about him?”
    “Well, you’ll see. But, Jon, just be careful , okay?”
    “I will . Thanks, Marty.”
    Marty nodded then walked away, glancing back once before stepping onto the elevator.

6
     
     
     
     
    Stanton waited nearly twenty minutes before the detectives were ready to see him. Instead of sitting at their desks, they were in an interrogation room, where a video was set up. Stanton walked in and waited by the door. The two of them were sitting a couple of feet from a television, watching a boxing match.
    “I thought you guys might be hungry,” he said, placing the pizza down on a large table.
    The two detectives turned to him. Jay was tall with red hair, and he was wearing a crisp white shirt with suspenders. However, Javier was wearing a T-shirt, his badge clipped to his belt. Tattoos on his forearms ran from his wrists to his elbows.
    “You must be Orson’s boy,” Jay said. “Come in to clean up the mess, huh?”
    “Just here to look at some evidence, as a favor.”
    Javier opened the pizza box and took a slice, folding it in half before taking a large bite. “Good pizza,” he said. “Thanks.” He pulled out a chair and sat down.
    Jay remained standing when Stanton sat down.
    “I’m Homicide , too, and I could tell you what I would think if my boss brought in some jerk from another city to look at my case. But it’s not like that. He offered me a free trip if I would look over the evidence. I couldn’t say no to that.” Stanton waited a beat before adding, “Besides, IAD’s investigating me back home, and it seemed like a good time to leave.”
    Jay looked him up and down. Stanton could see the change in his face, his posture, and the way his hands fell. The minutiae that others were blind to screamed at Stanton